Pupils per teacher in public and private elementary and secondary schools, by level of education and country: Selected years, 1985 through 2009

Country

Elementary

Junior high school (lower secondary)

Senior high school (upper secondary)

1985

1990

2000

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

1985

1990

2000

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

1985

1990

2000

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

OECD average1

—

—

17.7

17.0

16.4

16.2

16.1

16.0

—

—

—

14.0

13.6

13.4

13.5

13.4

—

—

13.7

13.5

13.1

13.1

13.1

13.3

Australia

13.8

2

—

17.3

16.2

16.0

15.9

15.8

15.8

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

3.2

—

—

12.1

3,4

12.2

3,4

12.1

3,4

12.0

3,4

12.0

3,4

Austria

11.3

11.6

—

14.1

13.9

13.6

12.9

12.6

9.2

7.7

—

10.6

10.4

10.3

9.9

9.6

15.2

12.4

—

11.3

11.3

11.0

10.5

10.2

Belgium

—

—

15.0

5

12.8

12.6

12.6

6

12.6

6

12.5

6

—

—

—

9.4

9.4

9.2

6

8.1

6

8.1

6

—

—

9.7

4,7

9.9

7

10.2

7

10.2

6,7

10.8

6,7

10.2

6,7

Canada

18.1

17.1

18.1

—

—

—

—

—

16.0

15.5

18.1

—

—

—

16.6

5,8

—

16.0

15.3

19.5

—

—

16.4

2,4,5,8

14.7

—

Chile

—

—

—

25.9

25.5

24.7

24.1

22.4

—

—

—

25.9

25.5

24.7

24.1

22.4

—

—

—

26.6

26.3

25.7

25.2

24.7

Czech Republic

(9)

(9)

19.7

17.5

17.3

18.7

18.1

18.4

(9)

(9)

14.7

13.5

12.3

12.3

11.8

11.5

(9)

(9)

11.5

12.8

11.9

12.3

12.2

12.2

Denmark

12.7

11.2

10.4

—

—

—

—

—

10.2

9.3

11.4

11.9

8

11.4

8

11.2

8

10.1

8

9.9

8

14.8

13.3

14.4

—

—

—

—

—

Estonia

(9)

(9)

—

—

14.1

14.4

16.4

16.2

(9)

(9)

—

—

12.3

11.4

16.0

15.7

(9)

(9)

—

—

13.3

12.2

7

12.4

7

16.8

7

Finland

—

—

16.9

15.9

15.0

15.0

14.4

13.6

—

—

10.7

10.0

9.7

9.9

10.6

10.1

—

—

17.0

7,10

18.0

7,10

15.8

7,10

15.9

7

15.9

7

16.6

7

France

—

—

19.8

19.4

19.3

6

19.7

6

19.9

6

19.7

6

—

—

14.7

14.2

14.1

6

14.3

6

14.6

6

14.9

6

—

—

10.4

10.3

9.7

6

9.6

6

9.4

6

9.6

6

Germany11

20.7

20.3

19.8

18.8

18.7

18.3

18.0

17.4

16.9

14.6

15.7

15.5

15.5

15.2

15.0

15.1

23.7

21.0

13.9

14.0

14.3

14.3

14.0

13.9

Greece

—

—

13.4

11.1

10.6

10.1

10.1

12

—

—

—

10.8

7.9

8.0

7.7

7.7

12

—

—

—

10.5

8.8

8.3

7.3

7.3

12

—

Hungary

—

—

10.9

10.6

10.4

10.2

10.6

10.7

—

—

10.9

10.4

10.2

10.2

10.9

10.8

—

—

11.4

7

12.2

12.3

12.1

12.3

12.8

Iceland

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

12.7

8

11.3

8

10.6

8

10.4

8

10.0

8

9.9

8

—

—

9.7

10.8

7

10.8

7

10.2

7

10.6

7

10.9

7

Ireland

—

—

21.5

17.9

19.4

17.9

17.8

15.9

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

7.2

8.3

15.9

4,7

15.5

4,7

14.6

4,7

13.2

2,4,7

12.8

2,4,7

12.6

2,4,7

Israel

—

—

—

17.3

17.2

16.4

16.3

17.0

—

—

—

13.4

14.1

12.4

12.2

13.7

—

—

—

13.4

13.2

11.8

10.9

10.8

Italy

12.8

10.7

11.0

10.6

10.7

10.5

10.6

2

10.7

2

9.6

8.5

10.4

10.1

10.3

9.4

9.7

2

10.0

2

10.8

10.7

10.2

11.0

11.0

10.8

11.8

2

11.8

2

Japan

—

20.8

2

20.9

19.4

19.2

19.0

18.8

18.6

—

18.6

16.8

15.1

14.9

14.8

14.7

14.5

—

16.2

14.0

13.0

7

12.7

7

12.5

7

12.3

7

12.2

7

Korea, Republic of

—

—

32.1

28.0

26.7

25.6

24.1

22.5

—

—

21.5

20.8

20.8

20.5

20.2

19.9

—

—

20.9

16.0

15.9

16.2

16.5

16.7

Luxembourg

—

—

15.9

2

—

11.3

2

11.2

2

12.1

2

11.6

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

9.2

2,4

9.0

2,4

9.0

2,4,7

9.0

2,4

9.1

2,4

9.1

4

Mexico

—

—

27.2

28.3

28.0

28.0

28.0

28.1

—

—

34.8

33.7

33.4

33.3

33.9

33.0

—

—

26.5

25.8

25.4

25.7

25.8

25.6

Netherlands

20.2

19.2

16.8

5

15.9

5

15.3

5

15.6

5

15.8

2,5

15.8

2,5

12.7

12.4

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

17.1

4

16.2

4

15.8

4,7

15.7

4,7

15.8

2,4,7

16.1

2,4,7

New Zealand

20.1

19.1

20.6

18.1

17.7

17.5

17.1

16.3

—

—

19.9

16.8

16.6

16.2

16.2

16.3

—

—

13.1

12.9

12.7

13.3

12.8

12.8

Norway

—

—

12.4

—

10.9

2

11.0

2

10.8

2

10.7

2

—

—

9.9

—

10.2

2

10.2

2

10.1

2

9.9

2

—

—

9.7

—

9.7

2,7

9.8

2,7

9.9

2,7

9.4

2,7

Poland

—

—

12.7

11.7

11.5

11.0

10.5

10.2

—

—

11.5

12.7

12.6

12.4

12.9

12.9

—

—

16.9

12.9

12.8

12.2

12.2

12.0

Portugal

—

—

12.1

10.8

10.6

11.8

11.3

11.3

—

—

10.4

8.2

8.3

7.9

8.1

7.6

—

—

7.9

8.0

7.5

7

8.4

7

7.3

7

7.7

7

Slovak Republic

(9)

(9)

18.3

18.9

18.6

17.9

18.6

17.7

(9)

(9)

13.5

14.1

13.7

13.9

14.5

14.0

(9)

(9)

12.8

14.3

14.2

14.1

15.1

15.1

Slovenia

(9)

(9)

—

15.0

14.9

15.2

15.8

16.7

(9)

(9)

—

11.1

10.2

9.5

8.9

7.9

(9)

(9)

—

14.6

14.0

7

13.9

7

13.7

7

14.3

7

Spain

26.8

21.2

14.9

14.3

14.2

13.6

13.1

13.3

21.4

18.8

—

12.5

12.5

11.7

10.3

10.1

15.3

14.8

11.9

4

8.1

7.8

7.7

8.7

9.3

Sweden

11.6

10.6

12.8

12.2

12.1

12.3

12.2

12.1

10.8

10.2

12.8

12.0

11.4

11.5

11.4

11.3

13.1

11.9

15.2

14.0

13.8

13.6

14.7

13.2

Switzerland

—

—

—

14.6

2

15.1

2

14.8

2

15.4

2

15.4

2

—

—

—

11.7

2

12.3

2

12.3

2

12.1

2

12.0

2

—

—

—

10.5

2,3

10.5

2,3

10.6

2,3

10.4

2,3

10.4

2,3

Turkey

31.1

30.6

30.5

25.8

26.7

26.2

24.4

22.9

41.3

48.4

—

†

†

†

†

†

11.0

12.1

14.0

16.2

15.8

16.2

17.0

16.9

United Kingdom

19.7

22.0

21.2

20.7

19.8

19.4

20.2

19.9

—

18.5

17.6

3

17.0

16.7

16.7

15.0

16.1

11.1

13.9

12.5

3

11.8

3,7

11.6

3,7

11.3

3,7

12.4

7

12.3

7

United States

17.0

15.6

15.8

14.9

14.6

14.6

14.3

14.8

16.5

15.9

16.3

15.1

14.7

14.7

14.8

14.3

16.2

15.8

14.1

16.0

15.7

15.6

15.6

15.1

Other reporting countries

Brazil

—

—

—

22.9

22.5

25.8

24.5

24.0

—

—

—

18.1

17.6

22.3

21.2

21.0

—

—

—

17.6

17.0

20.2

18.4

18.1

Russian Federation

(9)

(9)

—

—

—

17.0

2

17.3

2

17.9

2

(9)

(9)

—

—

—

—

—

—

(9)

(9)

—

11.2

7,13

9.9

4,7,13

8.8

4,7,14

8.7

4,7,14

8.7

4,7,14

—Not available.

†Not applicable. This level of education does not exist within the national education structure; students in the age group normally associated with this education level are reported in other levels.

1 Refers to the mean of the data values for all reporting OECD countries, to which each country reporting data contributes equally. The average includes all current OECD countries for which a given year's data are available, even if they were not members of OECD in that year. However, if data were reported for less than 75 percent of the countries that were members of OECD in a given year, the average for that year is omitted.

2 Public schools only.

3 Includes only general programs.

4 Includes junior high school data.

5 Includes preprimary data.

6 Excludes independent private institutions.

7 Includes postsecondary non-higher-education.

8 Includes elementary school data.

9 Country did not exist in its current form in the given year.

10 Includes tertiary type B education (i.e., occupation-specific education corresponding to that offered at the associate's degree level in the United States).

11 Data for 1985 are for the former West Germany.

12 Data included for Greece for 2008 are from 2007.

13 Excludes general programs.

14 Excludes part-time personnel in public institutions.

NOTE: For the U.S. data in this table, elementary school corresponds to grades 1 through 6, junior high school corresponds to grades 7 through 9, and senior high school corresponds to grades 10 through 12.

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Online Education Database; and Education at a Glance, 2002 through 2011. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, International Education Indicators: A Time Series Perspective, 1985-1995 (NCES 2000-021). (This table was prepared June 2011).